DEXTER TOWNSHIP, MI - More than 100 people packed into the lodge at the YMCA's Camp Birkett along Silver Lake Friday night, July 7, expressing concerns and frustration about the pending construction of a 42-inch-diameter gas pipeline nearby.

After musicians played songs and activists spoke, energizing the crowd, they marched in protest a short distance up the road to where trees have been cleared to make way for the ET Rover pipeline.

Two Native Americans who spent time protesting at Standing Rock against the Dakota Access pipeline -- a project by the same pipeline company -- led the marchers in song and chants.

"Over with Rover! Over with Rover!" the crowd chanted at different times.

Nathan Phillips and his 17-year-old daughter, Alethea Phillips, are members of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska.

"We're fighting extraction industries all across the country. It's not just here. It's not just Standing Rock," said Alethea Phillips, an Ypsilanti resident, urging other protesters to divest from fossil fuel companies and take their money out of big banks and put it in local banks and credit unions so they're not supporting the extraction industry.

Some thought they were in for a longer walk and expressed surprise when it only took a few minutes of marching at a slow pace to reach the cleared area a stone's throw from the summer camp.

That's part of the argument the YMCA and local activists are making: The pipeline will be too close for comfort.

"In many ways, we qualify as a high-consequence area. And what we need them to understand is you cannot have a non-odorized gas pipeline next to a high-consequence area," said Toni Kayumi, president and CEO of the Ann Arbor YMCA, addressing the men, women and children packed into the lodge.

"So what we are talking about today is we want safety and our kids to be the No. 1 priority with Rover."

The Y is concerned the pipeline will come dangerously close to the camp, putting the camp's staff and children in the blast zone if there's ever an explosion. Residents who live near the route have similar concerns and fear there would be no way to evacuate in an emergency, and they're worried about environmental impacts.

Critics of the pipeline argue there's a better alternative route further east within an existing ITC power line corridor. That was considered by Rover but ultimately rejected.

If the pipeline is going to pass close to homes and a summer camp for children, local activists argue the gas at least should be odorized so leaks can be detected before there's a major disaster.

Ann Arbor resident Matt Grocoff marched with his family Friday night in protest against the Rover pipeline.

"My daughter goes to Camp Birkett and it's shameful how close the walk is from here to there," he said after making the walk to the pipeline site, noting it's even shorter as the crow flies. "Literally you could probably hit a baseball from here to there."

He echoed others at Friday's protest who argued it's time to move away from fossil fuels in a big way.

"We all have to remember that pipelines end inside of our homes with our gas stoves, with our water tanks and everything else," he said.

"There are all of these appliances now that are electric that operate much more efficiently, much better, and much cheaper over the long run, so we need to begin transitioning to this now and start demanding that all new buildings be all electric. We can power them with renewables later. It's a simple thing we can do right now."

Energy Transfer Partners is building a 713-mile gas pipeline from West Virginia and Pennsylvania through Ohio into Michigan, passing through Washtenaw County on its way to Livingston County.

The project has federal approval and Energy Transfer Partners says safety is its top priority.

Joined by Washtenaw County Commissioner Michelle Deatrick, Zielen announced she has heard from the staff of U.S. Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, who are sending a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to halt pipeline construction near Silver Lake.

"They have heard us," Zielen said, drawing applause from the crowd packed into the lodge.

Alexis Daniel, a spokeswoman for Energy Transfer Partners, said via email on Friday the company respects that there are varying opinions and concerns about the project.

"It is always our goal to work closely with affected landowners, governments and the neighboring communities to foster long-term relationships and build the pipeline in the safest, most environmentally friendly manner possible," she said.

FERC is still reviewing requests to reconsider approval of the pipeline route and nothing on that has changed in the last week, FERC spokeswoman Mary O'Driscoll said via email on Friday.

Some local residents and officials, including the county board, are hoping the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will revoke the permit for the project. The Corps has not responded to requests for comment.

Zielen, who lives along the east side of Silver Lake, said her family has two houses that would be in the blast zone if there's an explosion.

As she addressed the crowd inside the camp lodge Friday night, she expressed her anger by slamming onto the floor three large binders of information about the Rover pipeline project.

"I'm sorry I'm a little hot under the collar, but I basically wasted the last four months of my life going through this," she said.

Clifford Rowley, who lives just north of Silver Lake in Livingston County's Putnam Township, fears an explosion of a high-pressure gas pipeline of this size would be comparable to a nuclear missile.

Deatrick, who has vowed to stand in front of bulldozers to stop the Rover pipeline if it comes to that, offered similar remarks during her speech, saying wind farms and solar arrays are the future -- not fossil fuels.

"Fossil fuel companies are ramming through pipelines and pumping stations and oil wells, and it's got to stop," she said, arguing the federal regulatory agency that's supposed to be looking out for working people is instead paying attention to billionaires who run companies.

County Commissioner Kent Martinez-Kratz also was on hand for Friday night's protest.